My fourth day in South Korea continued after my overnight stay at Beomeosa Temple. Come along with me as my group and I explore the beautiful Haeundae Beach and then head to a local restaurant for an unbelievable royal Korean feast!
As soon as we arrived at Haeundae Beach (the longest beach in Busan), we spotted some huge, incredibly detailed sandcastles. They were beautiful and it was like a big exhibit of sand art. There was even one that looked like King’s Landing from Game of Thrones!
There was a humongous boardwalk that was lined with lots of skyscrapers. The wide beach reminded me of Miami Beach because it was at least 150 feet from the boardwalk to the water. It was a hot day but a little breezy as well. Across the water is Japan!
I loved the skyline. It was very modern, as this is the newer part of the city. The older part of the city is the center, but this area was where the office buildings and helipads were.
Next, it was time for lunch. Sam had been telling me about how amazing this royal feast is for a while, so I couldn’t wait to try it! The restaurant was on the seventh level of a building on a beach that’s more popular with locals. The view was insane!
Our feast began with a mixed plate with duck, salad, bean curd, and more. The bean curd was like a bland, thick, rice-y oatmeal. Then I tried the duck, which was fatty and gamy. The sauce was similar to teriyaki sauce. Next was a sweet potato that was very soft in the middle and hard on the outside.
Next was fatty pork and onion with a spicy sauce. There were peppers that looked like a jalapeno but were way hotter. There was also pork with sesame seeds, which was fatty and gelatinous. There was a lot of spice in it! I was really loving the pork in Korea.
I followed that with shrimp with veggies, teriyaki pumpkin, and a sweet potato glass noodle dish with eggs. The noodles were unreal! They had an almost spongy texture. The teriyaki pumpkin was crunchy, and the shrimp with carrots and egg had lots of different flavors.
Then I tried the sweet, marinated beef, which reminded me of the hot pot beef I’d had in China. It contained mushrooms and sprouts and was super tender and flavorful! It’s the number one dish in Korea with foreigners.
We cleansed out palates next with a black raspberry wine called Bokbunjajoo, which was like a less-strong raspberry rakia. Then I went with the fried eel, which had a nice glaze on it. It was very crunchy, like eel tempura. Then I moved on to shrimp tempura. It had a light tempura batter with a vegetable underneath it!
After some sweet plum wine, I had some fermented soybean soup, five herbs with peanuts and mushrooms, some special kimchi, and more! The soup also contained crab. I added some of the mushrooms, which added a wild freshness.
The kimchi was really fresh and was covered in a spicy, red sauce. The tofu from the soup was really soft and flavorful. I loved the big chunks of crab and herbs. We finished with a syrupy and milky rice drink and fresh pineapple!
What an epic meal! Then we headed to an outdoor fish market. There was lots of fish, clams, crab, snails, and more. The market was huge! The port area was breathtaking with the water, bridges, buildings, and mountains in the background.
Inside the main building was endless seafood at hundreds of stalls, including fish I’d never seen! There were snakefish, octopus, sea urchin, and more. It was so diverse in terms of seafood!
Outside is the Busan International Film Festival grounds, where there’s lots of street food! I couldn’t wait to come back and explore more!
I hope you enjoyed exploring more of Busan with me! If you did, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment, and subscribe so you don’t miss any of my upcoming travel/food videos!
About Me: My name is David Hoffmann. For the last decade, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,000 destinations in 73 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube Channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
So this is the number one dish in Korea for foreigners.
For foreigners.
That's so good. That's mine, dude. That's mine.
What's up, guys? David Hoffman here from David's Been Here.
In beautiful Busan, South Korea.
The second largest city in this country.
And today, we're going to do something really special.
We're going to go have a delicious royal feast.
Korean royal feast, which is centered around one main dish,
which is like a meat dish.
And then lots of different vegetarian appetizers.
But before that, we're here at the biggest or longest beach in South Korea.
It's called Haeundae Beach.
It looks beautiful.
It is super long.
Let's go explore the beach.
Yeah.
You've been here before?
I did a long time ago.
It's been such a long time.
I kind of forget what it's like.
Oh, wow.
I'm already seeing like it's what do you call sand?
Giant sandcastles?
Yeah.
Giant sandcastle carving.
So.
Yeah, it's like art.
At the other side of the street, there was a little one.
But over here, there's like giant ones.
And they have a concert over here.
Yeah.
Wow.
We also just chugged iced coffee.
It's kind of like a pick-me-up.
Yeah.
Before lunch.
Wow, this is beautiful.
This is like a little exhibit here, right?
It is.
Wow.
It is.
It's impressive.
Oh, my God.
They're like giant.
This is not tiny.
Look at that.
It's like Westeros.
It's like artwork.
It's so impressive.
It looks like King's Landing from Game of Thrones over there.
Yeah.
Alright, let's check this out.
So, this beach has a humongous boardwalk.
I mean, you got the boardwalk, you got the skylines, lots of skyscrapers.
You actually have, you know, a footbath right there.
It's actually closed right now.
And then you have the beach.
And over here, we got like these huge sandcastles.
They have a little bit of that going on over here as well, but it's not actually done yet.
And then, as you can see, we have this massive beach.
And the beach is very wide.
This reminds me of like Miami Beach, how it's like easy, like 100, 150 feet from the boardwalk
all the way to the water.
Wow, it's really nice and breezy.
A little hot, though, because the sun is really, really shining down on us today.
And across, we have like a statue out there.
And from here, if you look straight, you see Japan.
Right now, it's a little bit of a muggy day.
And I don't even think you can see it on a clear day, but Japan's over there.
Wow, I really love this.
What a beautiful city.
Look at that.
Look at the skyline.
Lots of tall, tall skyscrapers.
Very modern.
This is like the new part of the city.
You know, the old part is the center-center, which is a little farther up north,
which is like a 20-minute drive.
This is the new part of the city.
This is where like all the businesses are.
Lots of offices here.
People live here as well.
But from what I see, these are definitely office buildings.
A lot of helipads as well.
Wow, this place is sick.
I love it.
Next, we are going for the hanjeonjik, the royal Korean feast.
I can't wait, man.
I'm so hungry.
Let's do it.
So basically, the lunch is going to be pretty big, but I can't wait.
Sam has been like pumping this meal up for a while.
He's been telling me how amazing it is.
And the best part about South Korean food is that it's all amazing, really incredible vegetables.
The vegetables here will blow your mind.
So here in Busan, there's actually four beaches.
We just visited the longest beach, and now we're going to Gwangalli Beach, which is more for locals.
That one had, you know, obviously more like luxury buildings, hotels, a little pricier, everything, right?
This is more locals.
So the restaurant is on the seventh level.
Here we go.
Wow, guys, the view we got here from this restaurant is incredible.
Sam, what do you think of the view?
The view is insane.
It's like you see the whole beach, you've got a bridge in the background,
and then you've got some tall buildings on the far right-hand side.
All right, so here we have our feast.
We have, like, this mixed plate here.
We have some duck salad.
I don't know what that is.
And right here we have some beef curd.
Oh, wow.
It looks almost like a little omelet, right?
Yeah.
Very bland.
A little bit of sesame seeds on top.
Decent.
Very thick, too.
It's almost like rice-y.
Okay.
I'm going to jump over here and get some of the duck.
This one over here.
Alright, wow.
That was delicious.
Very fatty.
A little gamey, too.
I like the sauce.
It is almost like a not teriyaki sauce but it is like similar, right?
Yeah.
Over here, I don't know what this is.
It is a sweet potato.
It has a glaze.
Oh, I love sweet potato.
Wow, delicious glaze.
It is almost like a dessert item, huh?
It is actually pretty good because it is like very soft in the middle but the outside is a little hard.
Oh my god, so what do we do next?
Do we just jump in here and pull?
Yep.
Alright, I'm going to grab one of each.
Is this like a pork right here?
Yeah, that is pork in the ssamjang.
A little bit of this.
Some onion.
You guys are talking to the spice master, man.
Yeah, it is spicy.
Spicy.
Two spices.
It is pretty amazing.
Very fatty.
Very tender.
The two spices combined really hit you hard.
You have this nice red sauce and then you have like I don't even know.
Is this like a jalapeno?
Bro.
Good stuff all around, right?
No, it is way hotter than jalapeno.
I don't know exactly what this is.
Oh my gosh.
But it is really good.
What is that?
It is like a kimchi.
Oh.
This is like pork pork, right?
This actually looks a little different.
So I'm going to get some of this.
Like that.
Well, you are supposed to dip it.
So let's do that there.
Just like that.
Ssamjang.
I got straight fat in there.
That was so good.
Super, super gelatin-like.
Wow.
The spice, man.
The spice.
She was saying there is no spice.
There is a lot of spice in here.
If you like pork, Korea will be your jam.
They have so many good pork dishes.
The way they cook it is so different.
And mixing it with this like kimchi-style thing.
Wow, what do we have here?
Okay, so next up we have three dishes.
We have a shrimp.
And it has like some veggies on top.
Yeah.
Here we have, I don't know what that is.
Is that like a pumpkin?
Yeah.
Teriyaki pumpkin.
And next to it we have some dish that has noodles.
You have eggs.
Here is japchae.
Sweet pumpkin glass noodles.
Look how good that looks.
Get a little bit.
So japchae.
Sweet potato glass noodles.
Dude, they are unreal.
Very soft.
How does it go?
Nice texture, man.
Almost like a little spongy in a way.
So good.
The egg with the mushroom combined.
Dude, that was so good.
Leave that for me.
You have a whole bowl of that, huh?
And here we have the pumpkin teriyaki.
I've never had pumpkin tempura before.
Very crunchy.
Not so healthy but I like it.
Shrimp.
In my hands, right?
Alright, so I'm going to eat the shrimp in my hands.
I hate getting my hands dirty.
So you get it out like that.
Perfect.
Okay, here we go.
I've never had a shrimp like this.
It has all these different things on top.
So many different flavors here.
Like carrot.
You have egg there too.
Huge shrimp.
And here we have bulgogi.
Sweet marinated beef.
Wow, look at that.
It almost looks like steamed in a way you know.
Like we're going to part that.
I take that back.
It is not like steamed.
It is more like hot pot.
Whenever you do hot pot in China you put the beef in or the pork whatever and it comes
out just like that.
Wow, it is amazing.
Super tender.
Going in for more, huh?
Yeah, lots of flavor here man.
Wow.
It is not spicy at all.
You've got some mushrooms in here.
You have some sprouts.
And the courses just keep coming.
So this is the number one dish in Korea for foreigners.
For foreigners.
That's so good.
That's mine.
Next we have my favorite part of the meal.
We're going to cleanse our palate with Bokbunja.
Raspberry wine.
It's almost like a raspberry rakia in a way but not so strong.
Yeah.
Great wine.
It tastes just like wine.
Alright, let me try some of the eel.
So here we have some fried eel.
The fried eel has like a glaze, right?
Yeah.
And I think we have.
I think it has been breaded too.
Pickled ginger.
Oh, it is my favorite.
And I love eel.
Sometimes it is very tough but I like it a lot.
That is a nice colorful bite.
Very crunchy.
Mmmmm.
It is like eel tempura.
But the glaze is very nice.
Very rich.
Mmmmm.
And here we have shrimp tempura.
I'm just going to grab one of that.
So if you want to you can eat everything including the tail.
I never do that.
And this is actually a very long shrimp.
And it looks like a light tempura batter.
I mean the color is like more like yellow and there is some herbs inside.
It really is.
The meal that never ends.
Yeah.
Hahaha.
What number are we on?
I have no idea but it is getting up there.
And something is under it.
I don't know what this is.
It is probably like a vegetable.
Mmmhmm.
Is it?
It is good.
Good?
Exactly.
Wow.
I'll have another piece of eel.
I was going to get it.
Alright.
Mmmmm.
I'm going to try it one more time.
I love it.
I had no idea this existed.
Ready?
Gambai?
Gambai!
Oh it is nice.
Oh wow.
It is so good.
Okay so this is basically sweet plum wine.
It actually looks like a sake bottle right?
But the bottom you can see the plums.
It is pretty good.
I think it is way better than the one we had before.
The raspberry wine.
This one is a little lighter.
Nice.
Very smooth.
Mmmmm.
This is good.
This meal does not end.
We have soy bean soup right here.
Fermented soy bean soup.
Yep.
Then we have like five different herbs.
We have some peanuts and mushrooms.
We've got two different herbs here.
Pickled radish right here.
Yep.
I mean everything looks so good.
And over here we have some special kimchi.
It is like really really fermented.
He was saying it is like super special.
It has a different taste.
Yeah, the boss came out here and said this is not what they normally serve.
Exactly.
We're lucky.
So what we're going to do is we're going to start with the soup right?
Oh I see crab there.
Wow.
That is a crab right?
Yeah.
That is crab.
Oh yeah.
So you get a little bit of that.
Grab one.
You put it with the rice.
You're going to eat right?
So I'm going to go here with the mushrooms first.
I love mushrooms.
Just get like two.
Mmm.
Very fresh.
Very wild.
These are like wild mushrooms.
Mmm.
Oh and the rice is super good.
Super sticky.
The rice is amazing.
Yeah?
Alright so next I'm going to jump on the kimchi.
As you can see it has this like red coating.
That is always, that always means it is spicy.
Yeah yeah.
So grab like that.
Grab a piece.
Okay.
Mmm.
It doesn't feel like it has been fermented for so long but yeah it is spicy.
Wow.
That is the kimchi.
The kimchi.
I just know it is really good.
It is really fresh.
Spicy.
If you like spicy kimchi would be your jam here in South Korea.
Put them on top right?
Load them on the rice.
So load them here.
You might need to use a spoon.
Hahaha.
Like roasted peanuts.
Yeah.
Yeah pretty good.
I'm in love with the rice.
So I'm going to grab this one first.
Oh that is a big piece of tofu man.
Mmm.
Wow.
Super soft tofu.
It feels like it has absorbed the entire soup.
The taste in there is incredible.
Mmm.
You get big chunks of crab in there.
Crab meat.
Mmm.
Some onions, some mushrooms.
I don't know what else is in here.
Lots of herbs.
Veggies.
Mmm.
Another palate cleanser in a way.
You know?
Yeah.
Mmm.
It has got a strong taste.
Strong flavor.
Grab this guy.
Okay this meal has finally come to its end.
I hope.
Haha.
So we have shikhae which is like a rice drink.
It is actually the dessert obviously.
Mmm.
It is like a.
It has a ricey taste.
Very syrupy.
Very sweet.
Mmm.
I like it.
Mmm.
It is like very milky.
Yeah.
And then next to it we have pineapple.
I love pineapple.
So why not?
Mmm.
Oh wow.
Then drink a little more of this.
Man this meal has been never ending.
I got to tell you I thought we were done like halfway through and I kept eating everything else.
Haha.
I know what you mean man.
A little too much.
I know what you mean.
The Royal Feast extravaganza is over.
What an epic meal.
Wow.
I mean it is a little too much.
I mean you think it is over and it is not over.
And right now what we are going to do is we are going to the fish market.
We are going to go pass by the fish market and see what it is all about.
Let's jump back on the bus.
Angela.
What is the name of the market?
It is over there.
Jagalchi.
The roaming is like a street.
Okay.
So it is a fish market.
Yeah.
The Jagalchi fish market.
What are we going to see there?
Just everything?
All types of fish?
Yeah.
The fish.
All.
Especially the Busan city.
The Busan the fish.
This market is like outdoors.
Check this out.
Look at all the fish.
A little bit fishy over here.
Whoa.
This is cool.
Is that cool?
This is really cool.
Hi.
Yes.
Amazing.
We are fishes.
So here we have like huge clams, huge snails, got octopus, we got crab.
I mean it really doesn't end.
And this is nothing.
This is just the beginning because there is actually the market really goes into the building.
So right here is just like a little bit outside.
But if you walk into this building right here, it is a huge market.
Wow.
You want to go into the market?
The bigger market?
Let's go to the bigger market.
It is right over there.
We are about to enter the main building of the fish market which is right behind us.
This building.
But before we do that, look at this view.
The port area.
Incredible views of Busan.
Just incredible guys.
Beautiful.
We got many bridges.
We have buildings.
Busan is so different from Seoul.
And the mountains, the aspect there with the buildings, I mean it is a metropolis.
Plus it is full of nature.
Let's go see some fish.
Let's do it.
We have just entered the fish market.
Yeah.
Wow.
Every stall has a number.
Yeah.
If you look up it is like 40, 41, 47, 51.
And there is so many fish that I've never seen.
Like what is that?
Yeah.
It is like it looks like a mini.
I don't know.
What is that?
It is like a pancake fish.
It is a Weisanji.
I can read the Korean.
Hahaha.
And then over here we have like it looks like an eel but it is not.
It is like a snake fish.
These.
Yeah.
Right.
And basically what you do here is you buy fish fresh.
You either take it home or you take it to a restaurant upstairs and they cook it for
you.
They cook it for you right on the spot.
That is it.
And the first thing like when you walk into the market you are like bombarded by the smell
of fish.
It is like woah.
Your nostrils are full.
It is a bloody mess.
It is really a bloody mess.
It is.
But this is a fascinating experience.
It just goes on and on and on.
And it is also upstairs.
Yeah.
For now we'll stay here.
We can't even see the end point at the moment.
Wow.
I mean.
It is boomeranging.
We're entering now 144.
158.
Like look at that.
200 and something over there.
It is crazy man.
Dude it just really really doesn't end.
This is so.
Like this is why we came to Busan.
Because we really want to have the fish experience.
If you really want to eat seafood in South Korea you've got to come to Busan.
Busan is your spot.
We walked around the market for like 20 minutes.
Yeah.
Saw lots of different fish.
Lots.
Lots of different clams.
I mean it is really endless.
Most of these fish I've never seen before in my life.
They are so diverse.
I guess they are like from next door.
Yeah.
Right here.
I mean yeah there is some exotic looking ones.
I mean I guess when I think back home we don't.
We're not as exotic with our taste.
It is more like shrimp and clams and scallops.
And we would never see it on a street like this either.
No.
This is very open.
Yeah.
Open air environment.
But yeah.
Walk in and it is eye candy man.
Yeah.
And right across the street we have the Busan Fish Market.
Busan International Film Festival which basically is like a mini market.
You know they have the Busan International Film Festival every year.
Yeah.
But in this area they have a market and it is called that.
So we thought this market was like a souvenir market.
You know it looked very touristic but it is actually not.
No.
It is like a street food market.
So many street food vendors.
Like this is the busiest street food section I've seen in Busan before.
Yeah.
I mean easily like 50 different street food vendors.
Easy.
A lot of Korean food.
They have like fried chicken.
Yeah.
They have waffles with cream which looks amazing.
Yeah.
With cream.
You know what I saw a lot?
The ddeokbokki shops.
Ddeokbokki yeah.
Like the spicy rice cakes.
Oh I love it.
I saw like 4 or 5 of those.
And they have like super long hand rolls.
They have like hot pot.
I mean so many delicious things.
We're going to do that another day.
Yeah.
But yeah what an amazing day it has been.
We visited the longest beach in South Korea.
Yep.
Then we went and we had what was the name of the meal?
The Hanjeonsik.
The Royal Korean Feast.
Oh my god.
Never ending meal.
We had one, two, three.
I can't even count.
Probably like 25 different things.
I know.
It was really really epic.
Really filling.
Yeah.
We tried some drinks as well.
And then we came over here.
We saw the fish market which is really vibrant and it is like smells.
The fish are jumping.
I mean it really is cool.
And the guys come out and they like put the fish in your face.
It was a really fun adventure there.
Some of them were really cheeky.
They were doing some naughty stuff with the fish but anyways.
And yeah.
What a day man.
And then we came here.
And that is a wrap guys.
If you love this video give it a thumbs up.
Leave us a comment below.
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And we will see you in the next travel food adventure in South Korea.
Peace.
